Application Process

Getting In

How to get a job in advertising? Apply to the most awarded and most successful ad school. In 12-months time, you could be on placement in the creative department of a top agency. What are you waiting for?

We are staunchly proud of our reputation as the leading advertising school, but our continued success is dependent on finding the very best candidates. Our selection process is unorthodox and intense, just like our learning model. The steps below explain how we choose our intake and how you can apply.

The Application Process

We select our talent purely on character. We honestly couldn’t care less about your A-level results or your swimming certificates. If you were a straight-A student, then you have made your family proud and you might be perfect for SCA. Similarly, some of our best students failed spectacularly in secondary education. What matters the most is that you are bright, hungry, humble, interesting, odd, a bit of a geek and able to play nicely with other students.

The application process starts by filling out this form. When you submit your application, you will receive an email giving you access to the Marc’s (the dean) calendar to schedule a call. Check your SPAM folder if you don’t receive it within a few minutes of applying, because some mailboxes (such as Google) hide it there.

The Phone Call

Marc uses the phone call to find out as much as he can about you, and he will give you the chance to ask whatever questions are on your mind about the school. The purpose of this call is for both you to decide whether it is right to take your interest further. If you both agree that it is the right thing to do, he will invite you to a Selection Day. (Note – International applicants may be offered an alternative selection process at this stage.)

Selection Day

We host a Selection Day every three or four weeks during term time.

If you are invited to a Selection Day then you will get the opportunity to meet our students and ask them all about their experience. We see Selection Day as a two-way interview: we want to make sure that you are right for SCA and we want to make sure that SCA is right for you.

Selection Day runs for approximately 5 hours and is packed with activities. Plenty has been written online about candidates’ experiences and it is worth reading as much as you can before your day so that you are well prepared. One of our favourite posts written by a former student isthis one.

Enrolment

A week after your Selection Day you will get a phone call from Marc with the school’s decision. If we can’t offer you a place, he will explain the reasons and suggest alternative options for you. We will give you as much feedback as possible.

If we can offer you a place, he will explain the reasons why you have been selected and also suggest a list of things that you might want to do to prepare for your first day of school. We need our students to hit the ground running from the first day of term.

If you and SCA both agree that the school is the right place for you, our team will get in touch to help guide you through enrolment and make sure that you have everything you need for your first day of term.